<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE html
	  PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
	  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en-US" xml:lang="en-US">
  <head>
    <title>Help</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/input.css" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id='close'><a href="javascript:parent.closeFrame()">X</a></div>
    <div id='form'>
       <h2>Welcome To the Buffalo Field Campaign Wildlife Database</h2>
       <p>
        Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers are in the field with groups of bison in the Hebgen Basin area on the west side of Yellowstone National Park whenever the
bison are outside of the park and at risk of harassment by hunters or
government agents.  Buffalo Field Campaign also runs patrol in the Gardiner Basin on the north side of Yellowstone when bison are in the area.
Since 2001, volunteers have been recording sightings of species other than bison to better gauge overall trends in the ecosystem.
Bison generally spend the summer inside of Yellowstone, therefore
patrols are active from November through May.  There are very few if any wildlife sightings
recorded outside of this time period.
       </p>
        <p>
        This database is an attempt to better utilize the wildlife sighting data that
Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers have gathered on patrols over the last 10 years, and provide for
easy collection of future wildlife sighting data.
       </p>
       <h2>Methodology</h2>
       <p>
        Sightings from November 2001 through December 2006 were collected on
paper forms and entered into a spreadsheet. 
For each sighting, the species, observation type (live, dead, or
tracks), starting and ending time, location, activity, number of
animals, sex, age class, and several fields regarding weather
conditions were recorded. 
Each of the multiple choice fields were recorded with a single letter
or number based on a key. 
Locations were recorded on a 1/4 mile grid, ranging from latitude 44.707N to
44.795N and longitude 111.055W to 111.235W.  Sightings outside of this
area were not recorded. 
In December 2006 the old data was converted from spreadsheet format
into the new database.  In the process approximatly 20% of the sightings were lost due
to being poor formatting.  
All of the data regarding weather conditions was discarded and
updated with Snotel Station weather data. 
The first name of the person documenting the observation was recorded
on the paper forms, but was not transcribed into the database.
Reports recorded from the old system are marked as reported by \"Old
DB\".  Names for old sightings can be obtained if there is a specific need for them.
       </p>
       <p>
        Starting in December 2006 data was entered directly into the Wildlife Database on a daily basis.
       </p>
       <p>
        Due to concerns about wildlife security, anonymous users may not view bison
sightings for the current season of October to June.  Access to
sightings for other species is restricted during hunting seasons.
       </p>
    </div> 
  </body>
</html>